Genesis 45–46

Joseph Revealed to His Brothers

45Then Joseph could not restrain himself before all those who stood by him, and he cried out, “Make everyone go out from me!” So no one stood with him ^awhile Joseph made himself known to his brothers. ²And he ^bwept aloud, and the Egyptians and the house of Pharaoh heard it.

³Then Joseph said to his brothers, ^c“I am Joseph; does my father still live?” But his brothers could not answer him, for they were dismayed in his presence. ⁴And Joseph said to his brothers, “Please come near to me.” So they came near. Then he said: “I am Joseph your brother, ^dwhom you sold into Egypt. ⁵But now, do not therefore be grieved or angry with yourselves because you sold me here; ^efor God sent me before you to preserve life. ⁶For these two years the ^ffamine has been in the land, and there are still five years in which there will be neither plowing nor harvesting. ⁷And God ^gsent me before you to preserve a ¹posterity for you in the earth, and to save your lives by a great deliverance. ⁸So now it was not you who sent me here, but ^hGod; and He has made me ⁱa father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house, and a ^jruler throughout all the land of Egypt.

⁹“Hurry and go up to my father, and say to him, ‘Thus says your son Joseph: “God has made me lord of all Egypt; come down to me, do not ²tarry. ^10kYou shall dwell in the land of Goshen, and you shall be near to me, you and your children, your children’s children, your flocks and your herds, and all that you have. ¹¹There I will ^lprovide for you, lest you and your household, and all that you have, come to poverty; for there are still five years of famine.” ’

¹²“And behold, your eyes and the eyes of my brother Benjamin see that it is ^mmy mouth that speaks to you. ¹³So you shall tell my father of all my glory in Egypt, and of all that you have seen; and you shall hurry and ⁿbring my father down here.”

¹⁴Then he fell on his brother Benjamin’s neck and wept, and Benjamin wept on his neck. ¹⁵Moreover he ^okissed all his brothers and wept over them, and after that his brothers talked with him.

¹⁶Now the report of it was heard in Pharaoh’s house, saying, “Joseph’s brothers have come.” So it pleased Pharaoh and his servants well. ¹⁷And Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Say to your brothers, ‘Do this: Load your animals and depart; go to the land of Canaan. ¹⁸Bring your father and your households and come to me; I will give you the best of the land of Egypt, and you will eat ^pthe ³fat of the land. ¹⁹Now you are commanded—do this: Take carts out of the land of Egypt for your little ones and your wives; bring your father and come. ²⁰Also do not be concerned about your goods, for the best of all the land of Egypt is yours.’ ”

²¹Then the sons of Israel did so; and Joseph gave them ^qcarts, ⁴according to the command of Pharaoh, and he gave them provisions for the journey. ²²He gave to all of them, to each man, ^rchanges of garments; but to Benjamin he gave three hundred pieces of silver and ^sfive changes of garments. ²³And he sent to his father these things: ten donkeys loaded with the good things of Egypt, and ten female donkeys loaded with grain, bread, and food for his father for the journey. ²⁴So he sent his brothers away, and they departed; and he said to them, “See that you do not become troubled along the way.”

²⁵Then they went up out of Egypt, and came to the land of Canaan to Jacob their father. ²⁶And they told him, saying, “Joseph is still alive, and he is governor over all the land of Egypt.” ^tAnd Jacob’s heart stood still, because he did not believe them. ²⁷But when they told him all the words which Joseph had said to them, and when he saw the carts which Joseph had sent to carry him, the spirit ^uof Jacob their father revived. ²⁸Then Israel said, “It is enough. Joseph my son is still alive. I will go and see him before I die.”

Jacob’s Journey to Egypt

46So Israel took his journey with all that he had, and came to ^aBeersheba, and offered sacrifices ^bto the God of his father Isaac. ²Then God spoke to Israel ^cin the visions of the night, and said, “Jacob, Jacob!”

And he said, “Here I am.”

³So He said, “I am God, ^dthe God of your father; do not fear to go down to Egypt, for I will ^emake of you a great nation there. ^4fI will go down with you to Egypt, and I will also surely ^gbring you up again; and ^hJoseph ¹will put his hand on your eyes.”

⁵Then ⁱJacob arose from Beersheba; and the sons of Israel carried their father Jacob, their little ones, and their wives, in the ²carts ^jwhich Pharaoh had sent to carry him. ⁶So they took their livestock and their goods, which they had acquired in the land of Canaan, and went to Egypt, ^kJacob and all his descendants with him. ⁷His sons and his sons’ sons, his daughters and his sons’ daughters, and all his descendants he brought with him to Egypt.

⁸Now ^lthese were the names of the children of Israel, Jacob and his sons, who went to Egypt: ^mReuben was Jacob’s firstborn. ⁹The ⁿsons of Reuben were Hanoch, Pallu, Hezron, and Carmi. ^10oThe sons of Simeon were ³Jemuel, Jamin, Ohad, ⁴Jachin, ⁵Zohar, and Shaul, the son of a Canaanite woman. ¹¹The sons of ^pLevi were Gershon, Kohath, and Merari. ¹²The sons of ^qJudah were ^rEr, Onan, Shelah, Perez, and Zerah (but Er and Onan died in the land of Canaan). ^sThe sons of Perez were Hezron and Hamul. ¹³The sons of Issachar were Tola, ⁶Puvah, ⁷Job, and Shimron. ¹⁴The ^tsons of Zebulun were Sered, Elon, and Jahleel. ¹⁵These were the ^usons of Leah, whom she bore to Jacob in Padan Aram, with his daughter Dinah. All the persons, his sons and his daughters, were thirty-three.

¹⁶The sons of Gad were ⁸Ziphion, Haggi, Shuni, ⁹Ezbon, Eri, ¹Arodi, and Areli. ^17vThe sons of Asher were Jimnah, Ishuah, Isui, Beriah, and Serah, their sister. And the sons of Beriah were Heber and Malchiel. ^18wThese were the sons of Zilpah, ^xwhom Laban gave to Leah his daughter; and these she bore to Jacob: sixteen persons.

¹⁹The ^ysons of Rachel, ^zJacob’s wife, were Joseph and Benjamin. ^20aAnd to Joseph in the land of Egypt were born Manasseh and Ephraim, whom Asenath, the daughter of Poti-Pherah priest of On, bore to him. ^21bThe sons of Benjamin were Belah, Becher, Ashbel, Gera, Naaman, ^cEhi, Rosh, ^dMuppim, ²Huppim, and Ard. ²²These were the sons of Rachel, who were born to Jacob: fourteen persons in all.

²³The son of Dan was ³Hushim. ^24eThe sons of Naphtali were ⁴Jahzeel, Guni, Jezer, and ⁵Shillem. ^25fThese were the sons of Bilhah, ^gwhom Laban gave to Rachel his daughter, and she bore these to Jacob: seven persons in all.

^26hAll the persons who went with Jacob to Egypt, who came from his body, ⁱbesides Jacob’s sons’ wives, were sixty-six persons in all. ²⁷And the sons of Joseph who were born to him in Egypt were two persons. ^jAll the persons of the house of Jacob who went to Egypt were seventy.

Jacob Settles in Goshen

²⁸Then he sent Judah before him to Joseph, ^kto point out before him the way to Goshen. And they came ^lto the land of Goshen. ²⁹So Joseph made ready his ^mchariot and went up to Goshen to meet his father Israel; and he presented himself to him, and ⁿfell on his neck and wept on his neck a good while.

³⁰And Israel said to Joseph, ^o“Now let me die, since I have seen your face, because you are still alive.”

³¹Then Joseph said to his brothers and to his father’s household, ^p“I will go up and tell Pharaoh, and say to him, ‘My brothers and those of my father’s house, who were in the land of Canaan, have come to me. ³²And the men are ^qshepherds, for their occupation has been to feed livestock; and they have brought their flocks, their herds, and all that they have.’ ³³So it shall be, when Pharaoh calls you and says, ^r‘What is your occupation?’ ³⁴that you shall say, ‘Your servants’ ^soccupation has been with livestock ^tfrom our youth even till now, both we and also our fathers,’ that you may dwell in the land of Goshen; for every shepherd is ^uan ⁶abomination to the Egyptians.”